Apostolic Succession
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Apostolic Succession Episcopal Seal of the Most Rev. Richard A. Kalbfleisch, STL, DD, NOSF Through the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil (Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira) Old Catholic Church of Utrecht Russian Orthodox Church The Church of England & The Episcopal Church in the USA Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa, ordained a priest within The Church of Rome on 1 April 1911, was consecrated to be the Roman Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu, Brazil, on 8 December 1924. His public statements on the treatment of the poor in Brazil (by both the civil government and the Roman Church) resulted in his removal as Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu. Bishop Duarte Costa was subsequently named Titular Bishop of Maura by Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, Vatican Secretary of State until 1939 under Pope Pius XI). Archbishop Duarte Costa's criticisms of the Vatican, particularly the policy toward Nazi Germany, were not well received. He was formerly separated from the Church of Rome on 6 July 1945 after his strong and repeated public denunciations of the Vatican Secretariat of State for granting Vatican Passports to some very high ranking Nazis. Some of the most notorious Nazi war criminals (e.g., Adolf Eichmann and Dr. Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death,") escaped trial after World War II using Vatican Passports to flee to South America. The government of Brazil also came under the Bishop's criticism for collaborating with the Vatican on these passports. Bishop Duarte Costa espoused what would be considered today as a rather liberal position on divorce, challenged mandatory celibacy for clergy, and publicly condemned the perceived abuses of papal power (especially the concept of Papal Infallibility, which he considered misguided and false). He founded the autonomous Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) immediately upon his separation from The Church of Rome (6 July 1945) and remained Primate of this jurisdiction until his death in 1961. Page 1 of 37 Archbishop Luis Castillo Mendez was consecrated by Archbishop Duarte Costa on 3 May 1948. He succeed Abp. Duarte Costa as Primate and Patriarch of the National Catholic Apostolic Churches (Igreja Catolica Apostolica Nationales) in 1961. In addition to the autonomous Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB), there are sister jurisdictions in thirteen other countries in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Pacific and in Asia, including: Argentina (ICAA), Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America, with over 12 million members. It may be of interest to consider Bishop Salomao Ferraz. He was a Roman priest who left that jurisdiction to join the new autocephalous Brazilian Church. He was consecrated to the office of bishop by Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa for the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) in 1945. In 1958 he was reconciled with the Church of Rome (during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII). The Vatican appointed him Titular Bishop of Eleuterna on 12 May 1963. Although married, Bishop Ferraz was later appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro by Pope John XXIII. Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Ferraz to serve on a commission of the Second Vatican Council; he even addressed the Council Fathers. This is mentioned only to point out that Bishop Ferraz was never re-consecrated by the Roman Church, not even conditionally (sub conditione)! He was also allowed to keep his wife while serving and functioning as a Bishop of The Church of Rome! Later, he was buried with the full honors accorded a Bishop of the Church of Rome. The Vatican, by accepting Bishop Ferraz without any re-consecration, affirmed de jure and de facto the sacramental validity of the Apostolic Succession received via Abp. Duarte Costa. Pope Benedictus XIV (Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 19 March 1743: Carlo della Torre Rezzoni (Pope Clement XIII) assisted by Archbishop Scopio Borghese & Ignatius Reali Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 April 1767: Cardinal Bernardinus Giraud assisted by Archbishop Marcus Antonius Conti & Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 23 February 1777: Cardinal Alexander Matthaeus assisted by Bishop Geraldus Macioti & Bishop Franciscus Albertini Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 12 September 1819: Page 2 of 37 Cardinal Petrus Franciscus Galeffi assisted by Abp. Ioanne Franciscus Falzacappa & Abp. Iosephus della Porta Rodiani Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1822: Cardinal Iacobus Philippus Fransoni assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga of Jerusalem & Bishop Rudesindus Salvado Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 June 1851: Cardinal Carolus Sacconi assisted by Archbishop Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and Archbishop Franciscus Xaverius Fridericus de Morode Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 30 June 1872: Cardinal Eduard Howard assisted by Archbishop Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella & Bishop Giulio Lenti Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1882: Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 October 1890: Cardinal Joaquin Arcoverde de Albuquerque-Cavalcanti Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1911: Archbishop Sebastiao Leme da Silveira Cintra assisted by Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves & Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1924: Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa Patriarch, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (1945) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 May 1948: Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez Patriarch, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (1961)assisted by Dom Melquiades Rosa Garcia & Dom Bartolomeus Sebastiao Vilela Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 30 January 1985: Bishop Forest Ernest Barber Holy Orthodox Church in the Philippines (Mission of the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira) assisted by Abp. Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield & Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 June 1987: Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson Archbishop of Scandinavia, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira assisted by Abp. Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield, Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz, Bishop Christopher Rogers, Bishop Carroll Lowery, Exarch Howard D. van Orden, Archbishop Arthur Garrow, Bishop Petros (Eric Veloso), Bishop Michael Marshal Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 August 1989: Bishop Karl Julius Barwin Page 3 of 37 Primate, The Evangelical Catholic Church. Consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 4 May 1991. Bishop Arthur (Alexis) Longacre of the American Catholic Church. Assisting Bishop Barwin was Bishop Eric T. Ong Veloso of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Bishop Carl Smith and Bishop Paul Schultz of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas. On 4 January 1997 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: Bishop Louis David Chinavare of the American Catholic Church. Assisting Bishop Longacre was Archbishop John Robert Collier of the Order of Caring Chaplains, Archbishop Patrick Randolph Connolly of the American Catholic Church and Bishop Benedict Clouse. On 7 May 2006 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: Bishop Richard A. Kalbfleisch, NOSF Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ, Auxiliary Bishop and Rector of the Cathedral and Abbey of St. Anthony, The New Order of St. Francis & St. Clare (NOSF). The Old Catholic Church of Utrecht The Diocese of Utrecht, Holland, was founded in AD 722 by St. Willibrord. The right of the Chapter of Utrecht to elect the bishop of The Diocese was recognized in AD 1145. In AD 1520 the Bishop of Utrecht was given the right to adjudicate matters in his diocese without appeal or recourse to Rome. In AD 1559, when the war with France had ended, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the Netherlands, persuaded the Pope to elevate The See of Utrecht to an archbishopric, with five new dioceses under it (Haarlem, Deventer, Groningen, Leeuwarden and Middelburg). Having survived the Calvinist Reformation in Holland as an underground Church, the Dutch Roman Catholic faithful were suddenly subjected to the political ambitions and maneuverings of the Jesuits, who fought to have Rome declare The See of Utrecht a missionary district under their control. At first failing in this battle to gain control of The Church in Holland, the Jesuits adopted a new tactic in AD 1691 by accusing + Peter Codde, The Archbishop of Utrecht, of espousing the so-called heresy of Jansenism. Although the Archbishop was eventually proved innocent of heresy, Pope Innocent XII tried to appease the Jesuits by suspending and deposing him in AD 1705. No mention was made of any reason for the deposition. Even a Papal canonist, Hyacinth de Archangelis, issued a formal opinion that a Vicar-Apostolic with the rights of an Ordinary (as + Codde undoubtedly was) could not be arbitrarily deposed. Two Dutch Catholic Chapters (Utrecht and Haarlem) naturally decided not to recognize this irregular, if not illegal, act. The battle was over local autonomy in a collegial Church versus Papal supremacy. When the Papacy appointed + Theodore de Cock as Pro-Vicar-Apostolic of The United Provinces, in the place of Archbishop Peter Codde (deposed), the Chapters of Utrecht and Page 4 of 37 Haarlem further decided not to recognize his authority on the ground that The Patriarch of Rome had no canonical authority to deprive even a Vicar-Apostolic, much less an Archbishop, without trial and condemnation. At the same time the